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The importance of confidence in project management

Jan Sandabacka

1. Abstract

Beliefs have a strong physiological impact on the human behavior. They have a self-fulfilling prophecy effect. People’s beliefs usually come true, because they act as if those beliefs would be true. Thus, it helps them to reach their goals. Right beliefs are important in the project management. It is especially important that project managers believe in their projects and their teams. Project managers set the goals of the project and have a strong influence on the team spirit and attitude. They guide the team in daily problem-solving situations. The confidence in the project - or the lack of it - plays an important role in all of these activities, and in many cases it makes the difference between the success and the failure.

Acting confident is not enough. If project managers are not confident enough, they must seek the confidence by evaluating the project risk and success factors, finding motivation for the project, and seek support from team members and stakeholders. A portion of autosuggestion is needed, also.

2. Keywords

Project management, beliefs, people management, confidence, optimism, leadership, positive mindset

3. Introduction

In January 2004, our company (F-Secure corporation) redefined our slogan to “BE SURE”: Our customers can be confident when they have installed our security products, consisting of anti-virus, firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-spam, application control and parental control solutions.

We were all asked to think about what this means in our daily work, so I started to think about confidence in the project management. Looking back on previous experiences, I started to realize the importance of the project manager who believes in the project.

4. The psychological impact of (the right) beliefs

I have read some literature about Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP). The NLP emphasizes the impact that beliefs have on the behavior, and the importance of having the right beliefs [1]. Beliefs have a self-fulfilling prophecy effect. One example of this is the Pygmalion effect, where a group of students was divided into two groups. Both groups had the same average IQ, but teachers were told that one of the groups had a very high IQ. Naturally, this raised the expectations for this group. Even though the only difference between the groups were teachers’ beliefs and expectations, the “high IQ” group performed much better in tests. [2]

The Placebo effect is a similar example from the field of medicine. People have been cured when they have just believed that they get a super-medicine, when in fact they have been given only a placebo without any effect at all [3].

A reason for the self-fulfilling prophecy effect is that beliefs guide the behavior. People act as if their beliefs would be true [1]. Therefore, negative beliefs limit people's capabilities a lot. If people think they cannot do something, then their mind is expecting a failure and unconsciously this will direct their actions. Most probably, they will not really do their best: Why really bother when the failure is inevitable? In the worst case, they will not try at all. Even if they try, there is a big risk that when the first problem arises they interpret it as a confirmation for their failure in the attempt that was doomed in the first place. They might easily give up. You probably have experiences from such situations yourself.

Positive beliefs, on the other hand, will enhance personal capabilities. If people are sure that they will succeed, they are energized and enthusiastic. They will eagerly do their best and make sure that they fully utilize all their skills and resources. Furthermore, positive beliefs challenge brains to seek and produce solutions to emerging problems, as they know (believe) that there are a lot of solutions out there just waiting to be found. The outcome is that if one solution is not good enough, people try another until a successful one is found.

“They are able because they think they are able.”

Virgil (70-19 BC)

The belief and the resulting success/failure will also work as a reference for future actions. Anthony Robbins presents the following feedback loop: Beliefs/Attitude; Potential; Action; Result; Belief/Attitude[4]. Beliefs and attitude (which are very closely linked together) will affect the potential people have (or think they have). This guides their actions and behavior, which leads into results. The result will then strengthen the previous beliefs even more. If the beliefs were negative, people will be even more convinced that a similar attempt will be a failure the next time also and so it has a negative belief-behavior spiral effect. On the other hand, with positive beliefs the success will give a track record that will strengthen people’s beliefs in their potential even more (a positive behavior-belief spiral). People with positive attitude are more likely to get the expected result. They are convinced that they will reach the result sooner or later. This motivates them to try different actions until they reach their goal.

5. The importance of the right beliefs in the project management

The project manager’s beliefs and actions based on those beliefs are important for the success of the project in several ways. I would highlight at least the following areas:

• Attitude and spirit shaper of the whole team;
• Problem solving attitude;
• The Pygmalion effect; and
• Goal setting.

The project manager is the attitude setter of the whole team, both directly and indirectly. Beliefs affect the behavior of one person. With a team, the effect is multiplied by the amount of team members. If the project manager does not believe in his project, it can be seen in the way he coaches the team, or rather in the lack of coaching. The project manager will have a hard time to find the energy to do coaching if he is not convinced about the project himself. Coaching, or the lack of it, will have a great impact on the success and the general team spirit [5]. Without coaching, people feel that they work in a project that no one believes in or cares about. With a confident project manager driving the project, the team members feel that they are working in an exciting project and have an enthusiastic leader that helps them forward in their everyday work.

The project manager's confidence has indirect effects, also. Team members keep an eye on their project manager. They will notice expressions and the body language. If the project manager comes to work every morning looking troubled, team members will be worried as well for sure. On the other hand, a smiling project manager who looks confident lightens up the team and makes them feel safe. The project manager’s enthusiasm is soon transmitted to the whole team. So keep smiling, the team is watching you!

The atmosphere in the project is also more likely to be positive and relaxed overall, if the team members and their manager believes in what they are doing. A relaxed, positive team spirit enables creativity and motivation. It also reduces the risk of stress and burnouts.

Additionally, beliefs affect the communication style, which project manager uses. For example, a pessimistic project manager could use words like “Difficulties”, “Crises”, “Threats” and “Dead ends”, while an optimistic project manager would talk about “Challenges”, “Urgent situations”, “Opportunities” and “Turning points” instead. These words send out very different signals to the team members and very much affect how they look at the situation or respond to a sudden change.

The attitude to look at problems is very closely related to vocabulary. The typical software project manager will face problems or challenges most likely every day. His beliefs are then crucial to how he reacts to these problems. Does he feel that each problem is just another proof that his already impossible project should have been never launched? In this case, his response is probably something between resignation and a half-hearted attempt to solve it. His team will most probably follow his example.

The confident project manager knows that challenges (note the word he uses) belong to everyday life of software projects. He is confident that he and his team will be able to solve problems and sees them as just another opportunity for the team to learn and develop. Furthermore, the positive attitude engages the creativity of each team member and enables them to look at the problem from different angels, which helps them to come up with a wide range of alternatives and solutions.

“Problems are only opportunities in working clothes.”

Henry J. Kaiser

As another area of the project success, we have the Pygmalion effect [2] mentioned earlier. Not only does the project manager need to believe in his project, but it is very important that he believes in his team, also. Due to the Pygmalion effect, the project manager unconsciously treats team members according to his beliefs and they respond correspondingly. A project manager who thinks he has a team of senior top performers treats them as such. So, team members do their best to meet these expectations and the self-fulfilling prophecy comes into effect. They earn the given trust. Vice versa, if the project manager treats team members like inexperienced novices - over-guides their work or shows that he does not trust them - it affects their performance negatively [5].

Last but not least, we have the goal setting in which the project manager typically plays a very central role. Planning and goal setting are phases in the project that determine what the project aims to achieve and setting the right goals is crucial. A pessimistic project manager feels that goals, which are set for the project, are very hard to begin with so most probably he tries to reduce the ambition level of planned goals to have some chance of getting even the half of the project scope done. On the other hand, the confident project manager challenges both himself and his team to set high goals and inspires the team to reach them.

6. Getting confident

Now we have seen the importance of confidence, but what should you do as the project manager if you do not feel confident about your project? There can be several underlying reasons for this: unrealistic goals or schedule, inexperienced team, unstable or unclear requirements, and so on.

Of course, you could try to act confident. In this case, you would have to be a very good actor and you should remember to keep doing so all the time, since team members are watching you - also when you least expect it. Most likely the acting takes a lot of unnecessary energy from you and it does not replace the real excitement and engagement that a truly confident project manager has. So, acting might work as a first aid, but you still need the real confidence.

Naturally, the first step to get the real confidence in the project is to address the underlying problems that cause doubts about it: negotiate goals or the schedule, train the team, clarify the requirements and so on. If this is possible, it is a quite straightforward approach.

As a second step, I would suggest to do risk analyses. Try to schedule the biggest risks to the beginning of the project. Everyone can be more confident once those high-risk issues have been eliminated.

The next step would be to raise your own motivation. When you are well motivated and excited, it is easier to believe in your project. A support from external stakeholders can be helpful in here. Find out the following:

• Why the project is needed? What benefits it will bring to your company?
• What benefits will this bring to the end customers?
• What opportunities does this bring to you and to your team? What new things or technology can you learn? What kind of experience can you gain?
• Will there be a reward if you are successful?

If you are not confident about your team, sit down with them. Get to know them and find out what they have done earlier and their experience level. Also, seek their support for the project and involve them in it. Most probably you will be impressed with what you hear and you will find it easier to trust them.

Furthermore, list the success factors you have in your project. Try to find as many as possible together with your team. When all success factors are written down, you can all see positive sides of the project.

Finally, try the autosuggestion. Go through all the benefits, opportunities and success factors by yourself. Create a positive mental image of a successful project. If nothing else helps, pretend that you believe that the project is possible and act accordingly. After a while, you will notice the self-fulfilling prophecy effect and your confidence will rise.

I have tried and noticed that the autosuggestion works on myself. A short time back, we had one very challenging project, which had a quite unrealistic schedule. Still, it was not in our power to affect this schedule, due to external commitments. We forced ourselves to believe in the project. This was hard in the beginning, but it became easier and easier as we progressed. The belief encouraged us to look for alternatives and in the end, we were able to pull through the project successfully. Of course, we also had an excellent team to do the work. A lot that I have written in this paper is based on experiences gained from that project.

6. A few words of warning

Strong beliefs alone will not make a project successful. Proper planning, project management discipline and a software development process all need to be in place. This has been an assumption for everything I have written. Proper planning is also a good way to become more confident.

Even if optimism is good in the goal setting, be careful with over-optimism. Unrealistic goals do not motivate people and are not met likely [5][6]. You might set up challenging goals, but make sure you know where you can cut corners, if the equation becomes impossible. If you look at the project management triangle with Scope (including Quality) – Resources (Budget) and Schedule at the corners, you need to know what can and cannot be negotiated.

When challenging people to reach optimistic goals, be careful not to pressure them too much. The idea is not that they should put in more hours and start doing longer working days. Instead, inspire them to be creative about solutions. Tell them that you think the goals are possible and you need to figure out how to achieve them together. Convince team members and then brainstorm to find alternatives. Try different angles and approaches until you get satisfying results.

8. How my beliefs affected writing this paper

While I was writing this paper I once more faced a confidence problem. I doubted whether I will be able to write this paper by the given submission deadline. I was involved in a pair of hectic projects, which took most of my working time. At home, our newborn baby daughter kept our family awake during nights, which did not help the situation in any way.

I was almost ready to give up writing this paper, as I believed that I could not do it. Then it struck me that the task was down to my beliefs and I realized that those beliefs would make it or break it. This gave me my inspiration back. By writing this paper, I would prove that beliefs make a difference, which would give me an excellent angle to look at the problem. Then I started to convince myself, which was the turning point. The writing started to progress and my confidence rose as the text evolved.

9. Conclusion

I will summarize the above-discussed matters into the following conclusions:

• Beliefs guide behavior. Due to the self-fulfilling prophecy effect, it is very important that project managers believe in their projects and in their project teams (The Pygmalion effect).
• Project managers' attitudes and beliefs have a great impact on the whole project and the rest of the team. This is true for the team spirit / attitude, goal setting and problem solving approach.
• If project managers are not confident about the project when it starts, they must seek that confidence. To do this, they must find out the cause for the uncertainty, list the project risks and success factors and seek the support both from their team and the stakeholders. Autosuggestion has proven to be helpful, also.
• Setting optimistic goals should be done so that something can be traded off later, if needed. The focus should be on finding creative solutions with a positive team spirit.

10. Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all the people that encouraged me during the writing. A special thank you to Vasco Duarte for initially convincing me to do the submission!

Finally, I would like to wish you good luck with your projects! Have faith in your projects and your team members. You will make it!

11. References

1. O’Connor, J & Seymour, J. Introducing NLP Neuro-linguistic Programming: Psychological skills for understanding and influencing people. Revised edition. Hammersmith, London: Thorsons, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 1995. 245 p. ISBN: 1-85538-344-6

2. Rosenthal R. & Jacobson L. Pygmalion in the classroom. College ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1968. 240 p. ISBN: 0-03068-685-7

3. The Placebo Effect From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_effect

4. Robbins A. Unlimited Power. the new science of personal achievement . New York: Simon and Schuster. 1996, 361 p. ISBN: 0-67161-088-0

5. DeMarco T. & Lister T. Peopleware. Productive Projects and Teams. 2nd ed. New York: Dorset House Publishing Co. 1999. 245 p. ISBN: 0-932633-43-9

6. Chezzi C., Jazayeri M. & Mandrioli D. Fundamentals of Software Engineering. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc., A Division of Simon & Schuster. 1991, 573 p. ISBN: 0-13-818204-3

Bio summary

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A quantity surveying perspective

Eugene Seah

Synopsis

The process and legal principles of tendering are part of the everyday life of a Quantity Surveyor (QS). However, with the advancement of technologies, these processes may change. Such advancement has brought E-Tendering into the equation of procurement. E-Tendering, in its essence, does provide the QS with productivity-enhancing capabilities. However, if managed incorrectly, it will cause much grief to both the consultants and the tenderers. This paper looks at the approaches of E-Tendering, the inputs and considerations that QSs (both the consultant and contractor) should take note of and lastly, it discusses the use of Electronic Interchange Agreements that sets the protocols of handling information.

General

With the heightened use of technologies, processes in any industry will change or will have changed. The construction industry of Singapore has been radically changed by the use of Information Technology (IT) in almost all aspects in the construction process. Examples to be cited are the usage of Web-based collaboration tools and E-Tendering.

The process of tendering is well understood by Quantity Surveyors (QSs). This process has been ingrained in QS training – the process has to be known by heart. However, with the coming of E-Tendering, the question is the following: Will the traditional QS process for tendering still be relevant? Would there be additional considerations both contractual and essential effectively to facilitate E-Tendering? This paper discusses the general considerations for E-Tendering and is only meant to focus on best practices and is therefore not exhaustive.

Before proceeding with the object of this paper, the author would like to highlight the concept of E-Tendering in general. In Singapore, the E-Tendering concept is part of the entire paradigm of CORENET, which stands for Construction and Real Estate Network. Aimed at improving overall productivity, efficiency and efficacy of the construction industry of Singapore, CORENET is a government initiative that encourages private and public participation by the various players in the construction industry. The object of E-Tendering is specifically to increase productivity during the tendering process by decreasing paper handling and speeding up communication and interaction.

The E-Tendering tools usually come in the form of web-based platforms, which are governed by construction exchange portals. Usually nicknamed Tender Engines, the tender process, which is originally performed manually, is transformed into E-processes and performed over the internet. Bills of Quantities and Work Package breakdowns are uploaded into the tender engine. In some portals which operate on the Construction Industry Trade Electrically (CITE1) format, the tenderer can input the rates and/or quantities into the engine which easily processes the information into intelligent and useful data for the consultant QS to evaluate and report.

This entire relationship can be illustrated in Figure 1 below:

It is usual for the tender engines to have the facility for the contractor to upload documents. This is usually in the case for Design and Build tenders whereby the tenderer can upload the Contractor’s Proposal. Some advanced tender engines will even contain an E-market place whereby the Main Contractors may enter this e-domain to obtain quotations from other subcontractors, suppliers and specialist contractors sharing this domain.

Once the quotations are obtained, the main contractor may select the cost-effective quote to be compiled in the tender engine for submission. In addition, such tender engines will also have a security procedure and management system in place (e.g. private/ public key systems, key pair systems and firewalls) to ensure authenticity and security of the entire tendering process. (See Figure 2).

Contractual Issues

The author would like to cover four essential contractual issues to be considered by a Consultant QS. These four issues centre mainly on the conditions of tendering/ instructions to tenderers, the form of tender, tender submission input by consultants and considerations for the preliminaries.

Conditions of Tendering/ Instructions to Tenderers

The conditions of tendering will contain salient clauses that govern the rules of tendering prior to the formation of the contract between the Employer and Contractor. If this process is going to be incorporated into the E-tendering process, traditional clauses may not be applicable.

The following is recommended to be included for consideration in the conditions of tendering:

1. Highlight the main contents in the tender document in the tender engine;
2. Inform the contractor to counter check the documents that have been uploaded into the tender engine.
3. Stipulate the tender querying period that is to be carried out on-line and the cut-off date of such period.
4. Instruct the tenderers to table the documents and drawings submitted where there are alternative designs or proposals made. This will enable the consultant QS to check if all documents have been uploaded successfully into the tender engine. There are instances where documents are not fully uploaded due to the lapse or time-out as a result of slow uploading speed. Information to consider will include but not limited to:
   1. Serial Number of File
   2. File name
   3. File description
   4. Version number
   5. No of Pages in document
   6. Approximate memory size of file
5. Instructions to assist tenderers to obtain the digital certificates (usually from government or privately designated third-party vendors) needed to clear the security for submission.
6. Reminders to tenderers to top-up credit accounts for e-payment purposes (if a payment engine is used for clearing of on-line payment).

It is unwise to leave the conditions of tendering and the specific instructions to navigate within the tender engine and its submission process ambiguous. Generally, the level of IT adoption in the Construction Industry of Singapore is generally low since 1999; thus, it cannot be assumed that the e-tendering process is well understood by the participating contractors.

Forms of tender

The form of tender is another important contractual document that warrants attention by both the consultant QS and the contractor QS. In Singapore, there are many forms of contract, ranging from the Singapore Institute of Architect’s (SIA) form to the Public Sector Standard Conditions of Contract (PSSCOC). The latter, being a government standard contract, has a standard form pertaining to the form of tender, but the former leaves it to the consultant QS to draft its conditions. The consultant QS would have to consider how to amend the form so that the submitted e-form would still be contractually binding. And, the contractor QS would have to be extra prudent in its submission as certain private forms of tenders would have clauses to say that the figures (written) in the forms of tender would supersede that of the final summary if there is a discrepancy between the two. Some recommendations are:

1. Instructions to the tenderers to fill in the form of tender in the tender engine;
2. Instruction and checks in filling the form of tender, including the endorsement of the
3. form with the contractor’s digital certificate;
4. Clauses to indicate that in the event of discrepancies, the amount written in words will
5. Prevail;
6. Clauses to include that until a formal contract is drawn up, the tender (with the contractor’s written agreement in the form of a tender, including the contractors digital certificate stamp) shall be binding.

der submission considerations - the consultant’s input

It is common that e-tender engineers work in conjunction with web-based collaboration tools. This celebrates the effectiveness of concurrent engineering with the productivity of tendering all as one. However, even though design information can be coordinated during the design development stage, design consultants can be carried away in the number of revisions in the drawings or not even recording the revisions. Thus, it is preferable that an E-Tender manager or coordinator is appointed for coordinating the uploading of the tender documents. This task usually falls in the laps of the consultant QS. The following are considerations in the field of best practices:

1. Elect a consultant to coordinate the input of the documents into the tender engine and onitor its revisions.
2. All electronic documents are to be vetted by the PM’s / Client’s representative before
3. uploading to ensure currency of the document
4. Files to be uploaded should be compressed/ zipped to reduce the uploading time and
5. storage space in the E-Tender engine.
6. File names of documents and drawings should be named / renamed as a readable
7. name for easy identification. This is opposed to coded names (e.g.
8. 10022004PAQS_FOT_et.doc VS Form of Tender 10022004_Etender.doc ).

There are also other issues to be considered by the consultants, issues such as copyrights and Intellectual Property (IP) issues. The following should be considered and adhered:

1. Ensure that all documents are submitted as portable data files (PDFs) to maintain minimum copyright;
2. Ensure all drawings files, unless otherwise stated, are read-only or plot files; and
3. If there are setting controls in the tender engines, the tender coordinator may set the tools in the tender engine to enable the contractor to view the file instead of downloading and printing the files and drawings.

During tender submission, the contractor is required to adhere to the following considerations:

1. The contractor is to submit the form of tender on-line together with all the priced sections;
2. There is no need for the contractor to resubmit the non-priceable documents e.g. specifications;
3. Tracking of the originality of the documents can be traced by the origins of the properties of the document which would have been tracked by the tender coordinator;
4. The contractor is to encrypt the submitted documents with the contractor’s digital certificate (preferably corporate certificate); and
5. All documents submitted should be submitted on a common platform and version. For example, MS Office 2000 or AutoCad 2000.

Preliminaries

To ensure the success of E-Tenders or any web-based applications, the contractor has to be primed and informed of what is needed for the tender. Consultant QSs will carry this out via the prelims. There should be provisions for:

1. Internet/ lease line connection on site (specified if wireless cabled);
2. Number of Personal Computers/ Laptops;
3. Minimum requirements of the hardware (e.g. minimum Pentium III/ Processor speed and RAM needed);
4. Mention the type of software the hardware should have (e.g. MS Office 2000,
5. including MS Word and PowerPoint, AutoCAD 2000 etc);
6. Paramount to state who the hardware and software should belong to at the end of the project and in what condition the accessories are expected to be; and
7. There should not be any catch-all clauses as these would artificially increase the tender price

Electronic Data Interchange Agreements

It is uncommon for nations to have acts governing the use of electronic data. For example, there is the Electronic Transaction Act that briefly endorses the effectiveness of electronic information such as emails and attachments. However, this does not address the process and considerations that govern the standard of information that is being submitted nor does it address the way information can be authenticated (between the digital information and the actual information that was uploaded); hence, the formation of a Electronic Data Interchange Agreement (EDIA).

There was an attempt to start a standard EDIA document in the construction industry of Singapore. This was because all methods of communication require a set of minimum standards of discipline to be observed by the communicants so as to ensure that the information communicated is effective. Thus the EDIA can be said to attempt to set out the minimum standard with respect to the exchange of data and information via electronic means. By agreeing to an EDIA, the parties cannot claim to be ignorant of the rules and conditions in the standard.

The EDIA sets out to complement the underlying commercial or contractual obligations of the parties involved and it does not set out to alter what the contracting parties have agreed to in the main contract. Thus, this EDIA is indeed a separate agreement with the need separately to sign the EDIA document. Here are some of the salient points that the EDIA must contain:

1. A sender may request that the receipt of its message be acknowledged by the recipient
2. A sender may request, in addition to the acknowledgement, confirmation from the recipient that the consent submitted meets the recipient’s requirements.
3. A proof of copy of work is to accompany the transmission i.e. to Cc to project folder or achieve.
4. Agreement that pre-tender information to be burned and stored into a Read Only (RO)
5. Compact Disc (CD). This is to protect the recipient when accused of modification or tampering with the original documents.
6. This ROCD can be kept at a 3rd party’s premise or stored in an off-shore account to be agreed to by the parties.

Conclusion

The era of E-Tendering and e-processes in the construction industry is here to stay. It is a positive move to globalisation with the breaking down of the national barriers with the use of the Internet. This paper celebrates the amalgamation of new economy thinking and processes with old economy values and traditions. E-Tendering does not bring along a total paradigm shift, rather, it yields many benefits to productivity and efficiency, promoting business efficacy with a minimal need for a business process re-engineer (BPR) to augment the current process. BPR may be needed on in-house QS software to cater for E-Tendering (e.g. conditioning the QS software to CITE compliance). Nevertheless, E-Tendering will bring much excitement to the construction industry of Singapore and to the world once it is fully embraced and implemented, creating a new breed of QSs to do the job.

1 Standard for interoperability between Bills of Quantities/ Sectional Breakdown QS software, tender editors for the tenderer’s input for OH&P and allowances and package assemblers for the repacking of the BQ items for procurement with suppliers and specialist contractors.

Author's profile

Mr Eugene Seah is working as an Associate in Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd. In his career, he was involved in setting up E-Tendering Procedures for a Construction Exchange Portal. He has a BSc in Quantity Surveying (1st Class Honors) and a BSc in Technology Management and Computing (1st Class Honors) and is currently undergoing a PHD in Information Management from the University of Reading. He is active in institution work and is a member of SISV, SIArb, SIBL, AIQS, SCL and CIOB. In addition, he is also enrolled for an MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration at Kings College University. Mr Seah is interested in contemporary technologies and management paradigms that enhance the quality of the construction industry as a whole and is eager to learn and participate in Industry Work.

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Peter Smith

This paper examines trends in the Australian Quantity Surveying profession since 1995. The paper is based on research conducted by a team from the University of Technology Sydney involving a series of five national surveys spanning 1995 to 2003. The surveys have examined trends in general practice and the utilization of information technology by the profession. The primary purpose of the surveys has been to assist firms in dealing with change and to adapt their operations to meet industry demands. Firms in all sectors of the construction industry will need to work smarter to gain competitive advantage and current industry procurement and technological trends clearly indicate that firms who are unable to re-engineer their work practices to evolve with these trends will find it increasingly difficult to survive in a meaningful and profitable form. The paper initially examines trends in the structure/size/nature of the profession and trends in general business practices and scope of services. This is followed by an in-depth examination of trends in the utilisation of information technology by Australian Quantity Surveying practices. The survey responses are then used to examine current problems and opportunities in the profession and what needs to be done in the short and longer term. The paper concludes with a range of recommendations and strategies that attempt to address these problems and ensure the relevance and importance of the profession well into the future. The paper will also provide the international quantity surveying community with a unique data source that should prove valuable for comparative purposes and general discussion about the global future and direction of the profession.

Keywords: Quantity surveying, Information technology

1. Introduction

The Quantity Surveying (QS) profession in Australia has experienced significant change over the past decade in terms of the scope and type of services provided both within and outside of the construction industry. These changes have occurred primarily in response to changing industry/client demands, Information Technology (IT) developments and increased levels of competition for services. Additionally, given the increasingly global nature of construction activity, increased international competition is of serious concern to all participants in an Australian construction industry dogged by extremely high levels of domestic competition and resultant low profit margin levels. The impact of changes in industry structure and procurement practices on the quantity surveying (QS) profession will continue to escalate. As information flows increasingly become electronic QS computing facilities, software and databases will need to develop in a compatible manner. Compatibility with and the utilization of CAD systems is just the beginning. It is inevitable that documentation and data will be increasingly automated to the point where measurement and other technical processes will require minimal human intervention.

This naturally leads to speculation about the imminent demise of the independent quantity surveying consultant but the reality is that, at this stage anyway, IT advancement provides the profession with enormous opportunity to actually strengthen its position in the industry. Quantity surveyors are well placed to become the major information handlers on construction projects as the majority of information flow evolves around quantities and cost.

Realistically though, no profession or discipline can legitimately lay claim to being best suited to take control of information management. It is likely that current opportunities will be taken up by others if the profession adopts a "wait and see" approach. This paper examines the trends and future directions in the services provided by the Quantity Surveying profession in Australia since 1995. It is based on research undertaken by a team from the Project Management Department at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) comprising five nationwide surveys of the profession carried out from 1995 to 2001. The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of this team, namely Rick Best and Gerard DeValence, with the research for this paper.

2. The Australian Quantity Surveying profession

Quantity Surveyors in Australia provide financial management services for projects predominantly in the construction/property industry. Traditional services include the preparation of Bills of Quantities, Builders’ Quantities, Cost Planning/Budgeting, Estimating and Contract Administration. The past decade has seen a marked rise in the diversification of services into non-traditional areas such as Feasibility Studies, Life Cost Analyses, Programming, Taxation Advice, Arbitration/Mediation, Expert Witness/Appraisal, Insurance Valuations, Risk Management, Quality Management, Value Management, Project/Construction Management and Facility Management. In the past five years, the profession has also made significant inroads in providing cost management services to other industries such as the Petro-Chemical, Manufacturing, Mining, Aeronautical, Shipping, Transport and Civil sectors. This diversification is a result of the profession adapting to meet changes in industry requirements.

The size of the profession is relatively small. Total membership of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) is currently just over 3000 with only approximately 1200 corporate members (the rest made up of student/probationer members). However, there are generally no registration requirements for Quantity Surveyors (except in the state of Victoria) and no requirement to be a member of a professional association. Therefore, the AIQS membership does not reflect the total number of practitioners in the industry but, nevertheless, provides a good indication. The majority of firms in the industry are small having five employees or less and there are a large number of sole practitioners. This is an important aspect to remember when analyzing the survey results.

This is reflective of the extremely fragmented nature of the industry not only in Australia but globally. The industry in Australia is characterized by a large number of small organizations with over 100,000 small businesses operating in the industry. 98% of firms employ less than 20 people and 85% employ less than 4 people (Hutt 2000). Over 90% of construction work is subcontracted and project team consultants and contractors are typically assembled for individual projects in an ad-hoc "one-off" pattern with decisions on project team composition largely made on the basis of lowest price. Hence, project teams are assembled and disassembled on a project by project basis with little continuity of project team members over the long term. During the course of large projects, there are typically hundreds of firms (consultants, contractors, suppliers) involved during the various stages with a high level of "change-over" between the various trade contractors. Additionally, every project is a "one-off" prototype. Current initiatives to address these problems include alliance contracting, joint venturing and "single-source" delivery of services extending into the operational stages of projects.

Due to a lack of industry standards, each of these firms has their own organizational / management systems in place encompassing a wide range of technological capabilities and software usage. The wide range of software systems used and the incompatibility between many of these systems severely limit the scope for the industry to take advantage of the rapid technological advances surrounding it. Exacerbating this situation is the generally low profit margins in the industry which inhibit the ability of firms and the industry generally to make the necessary investment in IT systems, research and development. Other key problems include the complexities surrounding information flow on construction projects, the lack of information and process standards, the traditional "paperbased" mindset of the industry and legal and contractual issues relating to electronic documentation and records.

The manner in which developers, designers, consultants and contractors manage the entire building process will continue to change. These changes will result in not only substantial restructuring of how facilities are designed and supported but also a major reengineering of how these players do business. This presents the profession with an amalgam of opportunities and threats. This technological revolution will enable the profession to raise its level of service to a much higher and professional “value-adding” level as the technical aspects of the quantity surveyor’s role increasingly become automated. The potential is there for quantity surveyors to be freed up from many of the time consuming technical aspects of their profession and focus on developing more sophisticated and professional services. Conversely, if firms fail to utilize and evolve with technological advances, particularly in terms of CAD and electronic transfer and receipt of information, they run the very real risk of being squeezed out of the virtual electronic project teams of the future. Accordingly, this paper will examine the results of research conducted on how the profession is evolving and meeting the challenges that these changes are providing.

3. QS Survey results and analysis

This section examines the general practices of Australian Quantity Surveying firms over the past 9 years. It is based on five nationwide surveys of the Australian QS profession carried out from 1995 to 2003 by a research team in the Project Management Department at the University of Technology Sydney in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS). The 1999 survey was also carried out in collaboration with the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS). These survey results enable evaluation of how the profession has reacted over the past nine years to the challenges and opportunities that industry change and technological development have presented.

3.1 Survey details

The surveys comprise a series of nationwide surveys of Quantity Surveying firms carried out in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003. 77 firms (out of 160), 65 firms (out of 126), 42 firms (out of 130) and 60 firms (out of 134) responded to the 1995, 1998 and 2001 surveys respectively representing response rates of 48%, 52%, 32% and 45%. The 1999 survey was posted to all AIQS members as part of a PAQS survey with 38 firms responding. The surveys comprised a number of questions concerning general practice details, information technology capability and use and future directions of the profession. The questions were largely the same for each survey but some questions were added to the 1999, 2001 and 2003 surveys.

3.2 Respondent profile

Figure 1 shows the location of respondents (question was not asked in the 1999 survey).

This generally reflects the population sizes in the various states/territories of Australia world with the vast majority of the population residing in the capital cities of each state/territory. Accordingly, respondents from the capital cities of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria dominate the survey.

The respondents predominantly comprise small to medium sized organizations which is typical of the profession's (and industry’s) structure. Approximately half had less than 5 employees and a large proportion of respondents were sole traders. These are significant factors when analyzing the survey results. Nevertheless, close to half have been in business for over 20 years which suggests that longevity is a feature of the profession

3.3 Services provided

The past decade has seen Quantity Surveying firms expand and adapt their scope of services to meet changing industry demands. The use of the traditional "bread and butter" of the profession, Bills of Quantities, has declined markedly in the Australian construction industry over this time although the latest survey results indicate that there has been a resurgence in this area in certain market sectors. Despite this, the volume of work carried out by firms has increased over the corresponding period. Builders Quantities, whereby tendering contractors themselves (rather than the client) engage and pay Quantity Surveyors to prepare quantities are now far more common than the traditional Bill of Quantities provided and guaranteed by the client. Builders Quantities are usually prepared in a concise form with firms using their own concise standards; no standard concise method of measurement has yet been developed.

Another major change has been that Quantity Surveyors are now used much more in the "front-end" stages of projects where their expertise is of most value. Cost planning and budgeting is becoming the new "bread & butter" of the profession. One of the largest Quantity Surveying firms in Australia1 provides a good example of these changes; in 1980 Bills of Quantities accounted for approximately 80% of their total workload whereas in 2003 this had declined to less than 10%. However, rather than leading to the firm's demise, the firm has adapted accordingly and now provides a greater volume and wider range of services.

This section of the survey targeted the scope of services provided by firms. Figure 4 shows the percentage of firms providing traditional services (question not asked in 1995). Estimating/Cost Planning and Contract Administration are the main services provided by firms. Even though the use of Bills of Quantities has declined most firms still provide this service albeit to a limited extent. More firms prepare Builders Quantities than Bills of Quantities.

Figures 5 and 6 show the extent of non-traditional and non-building services provided by firms (question not asked in 1995). They provide a good indication of the great diversification in the scope of services provided by the profession. This scope is now clearly very broad with taxation advice (comprising mainly building Tax Depreciation Schedules) and valuations for insurance purposes the most common service.

The growth of the profession’s role in the provision of feasibility studies indicates the increasing awareness of introducing quantity surveyors at the outset of a project where they can be of most value. The 2003 results show that over 80% of firms now provide this service. Project management, value management and life cost analyses are now an integral service provided. The involvement in Facility Management and post occupancy services generally has grown and provides perhaps one of the greatest areas for long term growth. However, the 2003 results show a decline in the number of firms providing Facility Management services which is surprising. The role of Quantity Surveyors in resolving disputes as Expert Witnesses in Arbitration/Litigation actions has escalated markedly. Australia is one of the most litigious countries in the world (measured in terms of legal cases per capita) and its construction industry is dominated by a high level of dispute. Most disputes evolve around money so the cost expertise of the quantity surveyor is commonly sought.

Figure 6 shows that Quantity Surveying firms are venturing into non-building areas demonstrating that the cost management skills of the Quantity Surveyor can be applied in other industries just as is the case with Project Management. The 1998–2001 results indicated that this trend was likely to continue but the 2003 results saw a decline. The civil, infrastructure, transport and mining sectors are the main sources of non-building work.

However, the provision of these services does not necessarily mean that they account for a large proportion of a firm’s volume of work. Figures 7 and 8 indicate the percentage of income that these non-traditional/non-building services provide for firms. The results indicate a significant increase over the 9 year period. These results provide evidence that Quantity Surveying firms have really taken on the challenge of diversification to better meet and serve industry demands. This indicates, in part at least, a proactive approach to change by many firms. They also demonstrate the very broad range of employment and business opportunities available for the modern day quantity surveyor.

In 1995, non-traditional services accounted for less than 10% of total income for over 80% of firms and no firm had a percentage higher than 50%. Non-building services were very limited; only 10% of firms carried out these services and, even then, they only accounted for less than 10% of total income. From 1998-2001 this picture changed significantly and the 2003 results have shown an even greater increase in non-traditional building services. By 2003 non-traditional services accounted for more than 10% of total income for over 80% of firms and over 20% of total income for nearly half of firms. For approximately 20-25% of firms these services actually account for over 50% of total income.

Income from non-building services also showed substantial rises although this tapered back a bit with the 2003 results. In 1995 90% of firms did not generate any income from non-building services but by 2001/03 this figure had reduced to approximately 40%.

3.4 Computing systems

Operating Systems

In order to ascertain current processing technology capacity, respondents were asked to indicate their hardware platforms with the results shown in Figure 9. This provides the basis for the analysis of the IT survey results. The use of multi-user systems comprising a mainframe and dumb terminals has declined from around 40% of firms in 1995 to zero in 2003. The move to networked computers has been substantial and is to be expected. Over 70% of the 2003 respondents use networked systems which, given that the survey sample comprised over 40% of firms with 5 or less employees, indicates most firms use networking where practical. The use of laptop computers has remained relatively static being used by only approximately half of QS firms.

General Software Systems

Specialist Software Systems

Figure 11 indicates that although the majority of firms use specialist application industry software for estimating, cost planning and Bills of Quantities (BQ) preparation the same may not be said for other specialist areas such as facilities management. However, many firms have developed programs for these specialist areas in-house (largely based on spreadsheets) and many project management style programs provide "all-encompassing" capabilities. In-house software is now used by over half of firms. Of note is the marked increase in specialist feasibility software. The most alarming statistic however continues to be in relation to CAD software. In 1995 only 13% of respondents had CAD facilities. Over the ensuing 9 years this percentage has slowly increased to 28% which indicates that at least some firms are venturing into the CAD area. Nevertheless, this proportion is still low particularly if the profession is intent on remaining a key player in the project procurement cycle. Whilst some respondents cite cost as the main reason for the non-use of CAD, it is clear that the majority of Quantity Surveyors are resisting active involvement in the CAD area.

Electronic Communication

In terms of electronic communication, access to on-line services has improved as shown in Figure 12. As previously mentioned, in 1995 only 13% of firms had e-mail/internet facilities but by 2003 this figure has increased to 98%. In 1995 none of the respondent firms had web sites but by 2003 72% of firms had one. This figure is likely to have increased further by now. However, the use of on-line cost and product data services remains at a low level.

Figure 13 shows that the level of external electronic data exchange, other than by telephone or fax, has improved in the 2003 survey. The 1995-1999 surveys showed that less than 10% of firms transferred or received architectural drawings electronically but by 2003 this figure had risen dramatically in the past two years to 58%. Marked improvements were also evident with engineers’ and other consultants’ drawings.

However this level of transfer remains very limited. Figure 14 shows that, despite some improvements since 1995, over 40% of firms still do not transfer or receive any drawing documentation in an electronic form. However, some firms are clearly developing their capabilities in this area - the latest results show that approximately 17% receive/transfer over 20% of their drawing documentation electronically. These firms really stand out from the pack and clearly show that it is possible.

In terms of remote communications, the percentage of firms utilizing telecommuting by having at least one employee working has increased to about 25%. This is demonstrative of the benefits of telecommuting (at least in part) both for employers and employees. Teleconferencing facilities are now used by approximately 45% of firms. Only one firm (in the 2003 survey) had videoconferencing facilities.

Measurement Tools

The 1999 survey introduced a question relating to the use of electronic tools to aid the measurement process. The results in Figures 16 and 17 show that the majority of firms still cling to traditional paper-based measurement with the use of electronic measurement tools quite rare. The majority of respondent firms remain averse to using CAD automated quantities – in 1999 85% were not using CAD for this purpose and by 2003 this had only improved slightly to approximately 75%. In other words this indicates that three-quarters of the profession still do not use CAD at all for measurement. Nevertheless some firms have seen the potential with the 2003 results showing that approximately 10% of respondents use CAD often or daily for measurement.

However, it is not known whether this applies to all staff within these firms or just “selected”staff. These firms and others like them who did not respond to the survey, stand out as pioneers in this area. Given the low proportion of firms with CAD facilities in the first place, these results are probably not surprising. The major reasons cited for not using CAD are the cost involved in investing in the necessary hardware/software and training of staff, the incompatibility of different CAD systems and problems with the automated capabilities of these systems. Many firms stated that there was no need or requirement for them to measure with CAD. There are still many problems associated with using CAD for measurement and the time when CAD systems can automatically produce a detailed Bill of Quantities for projects generally (rather than being set up for specific projects) is still probably a long way off. But the reality is that most CAD systems have the capabilities to, at the very least, automatically generate basic quantities in terms of areas, volumes and numbers of items.

It was, however, encouraging to see a marked increase in the use of digitizers for measurement in the 2003 results. The use of digitizers for measurement has traditionally been very low in the profession. In 1999, 79% of firms never used digitizers, 13% seldom used them, 3% used them often and only 5% used them daily. These figures only improved marginally in 2001 but 2003 saw major increases to the point where nearly half of firms use digitizers often or on a daily basis. However, as with CAD measurement, it is not known whether these firms make digitizers available to all staff.

Nevertheless, the results indicate that the profession is generally not utilizing and evolving with systems that can automatically produce quantities. There is tremendous scope here for quantity surveying practices to improve productivity and cost efficiency by utilizing such systems.

3.5 Future expectations

The next section of the survey asked firms to give their opinions on a series of propositions relating to the possible future impact of general industry changes and Information Technology advances. The propositions and results are shown in Table 1. The predominant response for each year is highlighted in bold.

The predominant response categories were largely the same for each year and indicate that attitudes towards future directions in the industry, quantity surveying work practices and IT and their effect on the profession have remained relatively unchanged.

General Practice

1. The role of the QS as an independent consultant will expand in the future.

Approximately 80% of respondents in each survey agreed or strongly agreed with the above proposition. This reflects an optimism in the profession that hasn’t changed despite the many changes in the industry and the profession.

2. Future QSs will mainly be employed as part of a professional team in multi-disciplinary practices providing integrated "in-house" services.

This question concentrated on the future viability of the independent QS practice in light of changes in industry procurement practices which have seen many clients move to ‘design and construct” style single source procurement solutions. In 1995/98 60-70% disagreed with this whilst in 1999/2001 only about 50% disagreed. In 2003 75% disagreed which suggests that most practitioners do not believe that single source packaging of projects will have a detrimental impact on QS firms.

3. The QS will be a key player in the construction industry in 10 years time.

Once again the respondents generally responded very optimistically to this question with approximately 80% agreeing with this in the first four surveys. In 2003 90% agreed which perhaps reflects that, despite all of the rapid changes over the past decade, the skills and expertise of the QS are still in great demand.

Information Technology

4. The impact of IT on the construction industry will be minimal in the next 5 years.

The interesting result here was the decline in the 2003 survey of respondents who strongly disagreed with this proposition. In 1995 13% strongly disagreed but in 1998, 1999 and 2001 approximately 40% strongly disagreed. However, in 2003 only 19% strongly disagreed which may suggest that many practitioners feel that the effect of IT developments in the short term will not be as great as might be expected.

5. The impact of IT on the construction industry will be minimal in the next 10 years.

A similar pattern of responses was found with this question. In 1995 only 24% strongly disagreed with this but 1998-2001 saw approximately 50-60% strongly disagree. By 2003 this figure went back down to 27%.

6. Further advances in computing and IT generally will see the end of the technical QS measurer.

The responses to this question add further credence to the supposition that many in the profession do not see the impact of IT as being as great as first envisaged. In 1995 45% disagreed and in 1998-2001 approximately 60% disagreed. In 2003 this had increased to 74%. This clearly suggests that the majority of the profession believe that the problems (both current and future) with CAD generated quantities are so great that physical measurement will always be necessary at least in part.

7. IT advances will lead to fewer but more highly skilled QSs

Opinion was relatively divided on this matter in each of the surveys. The utilization of appropriate IT developments will increasingly enable quantity surveyors to provide more sophisticated professional services as many of the traditional QS tasks become automated. However, questions 1 and 3 showed that most respondents were very optimistic about the future demand for quantity surveyors. These factors may be the underlying reasons for the division of opinion.

8. CAD networking facilities and knowledge will be essential for the QS in 5 years time

Despite the survey findings of a low level of usage of CAD software, approximately 60-70% of respondents in each of the surveys agreed that CAD networking facilities and knowledge will be essential in 5 years time. It is clear however that nowhere near 60-70% of respondents are doing something about it. As shown earlier, the 2003 survey showed that only 28% of respondents had CAD software. Additionally, only 10% used CAD often or daily for measurement.

9. The QS profession should be actively involved in utilising, developing and promoting the use of CAD automated quantities

Approximately 65-75% of respondents in each of the surveys agreed that the profession should be actively involved in CAD development. However, with only 10% of firms in the 2003 survey using CAD regularly for measurement, it is clear that few firms are actually doing something. Nonetheless the author is aware of some firms who are very actively involved in this area and perhaps will provide the catalyst for other firms to follow suit.

10. Only larger practices have the resources to take advantage of IT

This proposition sought to determine whether smaller firms were at a disadvantage in terms of IT development. However, approximately 50-60% of respondents disagreed with this with approximately 10-15% unsure.

11. Greater use of IT will enable the QS profession to provide better service to clients

Approximately 75-85% of respondents in each of the surveys agreed with this. Nevertheless, the survey results show that many firms are not embracing many IT capabilities that might enable them to provide better services.

12. The QS is well placed to take advantage of the changes in the construction industry which will flow from the increased use of IT

Once again fairly consistent responses were received to this question in each of the s